...transforming hearts, souls & minds through the experience of theatre...I have loved live theatre for as long as I can remember.
I come to it fairly: My mother earned a Master's in theatre before i was born, and worked as an actress and director during my childhood. I also realized later that my father's work as a psychologist provided a scientific foundation for my appreciation of the art of human behavior which is theatre. However, when I decided at 15 to leave my atheist/agnostic life behind and become a Christian, I believed I should also leave behind my love of theatre and pursue a career in something more "meaningful." So I spent my first 2 1/2 years of college as a pre-med student. It took a few years and a couple of supernatural events to turn me back to my identity as a creative artist, and specifically a maker of theatre. After college and four years of full-time ministry, I became a core part of a new, somewhat experimental thing called an "Arts Ministry" at an unusual church in Austin, Texas. After an internship there, apprenticeship here, 3 original one-act plays, 2 summer arts festivals, 2 film festivals, 2 professional shows for young audiences and numerous original 8-minute performances of varying quality, I flew off to New York to earn a Master of Arts in Educational Theatre from NYU. My goal in studying through that particular program: to develop my skills of acting, directing, and playwriting, and figure out some new and innovative way to incorporate theatre art into the life and work of the church. I discovered at NYU the field of applied theatre, which originated in social justice movements, but which I realized was perfectly suited to what I was created to do in the Body of Christ. And that's what I do now. I currently live in Austin with my husband and two children, on the best block in the best neighborhood in town. |